High profile arrivals gave the box office a bit of a boost this weekend, picking up business with a pair of good debuts.
Coming in first is The Magnificent Seven (read our review), which grossed $35 million in its first three days. That is somewhat below the original projections of $51 million, though it is still a solid start for the Western remake. It’s actually the highest opening weekend in director Antoine Fuqua’s career, barely edging out 2014’s The Equalizer. The film was able to turn its generally positive reception and considerable star power into one of the best September openings of all-time. Though Sony was hoping for a little more, they should still be happy with these results.
It will be interesting to see how Magnificent Seven holds up over time. There are a few major movies coming out in the next couple of weeks, but none were on the level of anticipation or awareness as Magnificent Seven. The movie has earned a reputation of being a fun time at the theater, which is something general audiences will like following a relatively disappointing summer. All in all, the latest collaboration between Fuqua and Denzel Washington should end up as another commercially successful project, great news for the upcoming Equalizer 2.
In the second spot is Storks (read our review). The new film from Warner Animation Group brought in $21.8 million during its opening weekend. That figure is a considerable step down from the studio’s inaugural offering, The LEGO Movie ($69 million), and it’s arguably quite low for a family film that was generally well-received. For comparison’s sake, the panned Ice Age: Collision Course made $21.3 million in its opening weekend back in July, meaning Storks could barely top that. Nobody was expecting Storks to post numbers rivaling that of Finding Dory, but this is still surprising. Animated films have previously found a great deal of success during this time of year, as evident by the Hotel Transylvania series.
If there is a silver lining for Storks, it’s that the production budget was a reasonable $70 million, and it’s already grossed $40.1 million globally. In all likelihood, it will turn a small profit for WB, especially since it will have a corner on its target demographic for a couple of weeks. Whether or not it gets a sequel remains to be seen, but it should have decent legs commercially.
The two-time reigning champ, Sully, fell to third in its third weekend. Clint Eastwood’s latest biopic grossed $13.8 million, raising its domestic total to $92.3 million. It currently ranks as the fifth largest film of the legend’s directorial career and should rise up the charts a bit more as it continues its run.
The #4 film this week is Bridget Jones’s Baby, which made $4.5 million in its second weekend. The romantic-comedy is now up to $16.4 million in the States.
Rounding out the top five is Snowden. Oliver Stone’s take on the controversial Edward Snowden added $4.1 million to its U.S. total over the weekend. It has now made $15.1 million.
In sixth is Blair Witch. The horror sequel grossed $3.9 million in its second weekend, a stark 58.8 percent drop from its opening. It’s now brought in $16.1 million.
Don’t Breathe comes in seventh with $3.8 million. The movie continues its lucrative theatrical run and is now at $81.1 million domestically.
The #8 film is Suicide Squad. The latest installment of the DCEU grossed $3.1 million in its eighth weekend, increasing its domestic total to a strong $318.1 million.
In ninth is When the Bough Breaks with $2.5 million. The thriller now stands at $26.6 million in the States.
Capping off the top ten is Kubo and the Two Strings. The latest from Laika made $1.1 million in its sixth weekend, raising its Stateside total to $45.9 million.
[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates — based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, September 26 — at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
